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Thursday, September 3, 2009

One of my favorite bakeries here in LA is called Porto's Bakery in Glendale, CA. It's a Cuban bakery that serves up delicious pastries, breads, cakes, sandwiches. They have a sister branch in Burbank. But the Glendale location is their main store. I've been in the U.S. for 20 years and they've been around longer than that. In the same location. I remember when it was just a little average size store before they expanded and added the cafe area. It's a favorite among the locals in the LA area. Anytime of the day, 7-days a week there are always busy long waiting lines. I think it's worth the wait. I guess they must be doing something right. The owner is also one of the nicest ladies I've ever met. You'd find her there baking away and making sure things are done right.

A few of my favorite items that I love to order is their in-house banana chips (marquitas), guava and cream cheese danish, french dinner rolls, potato balls (that one is really good) and they also make some tasty cakes. My all-time favorite item they make would have to be the cheese rolls. I always get a bit sad when I take that last bite because there won't be anymore in that little bakery box. Just the remnants of what was. It's like a cannoli-shaped puff pastry filled with some sort of cream cheese mixture and basted with something sweet and sprinkled with sugar. It only costs, I think, 50 cents for one. Pretty good bargain. I could literally eat 4 in one sitting. It's definitely one of the more popular items there.

Anyway...I've always wondered what the recipe was like. I doubt that they'd divulge the secret to such a loved pastry. So here's my take on it. I used a can of those Pillsbury crescent rolls. I have yet to learn how to make croissants, but I will eventually. Used some cream cheese, an egg yolk and some powdered sugar. After baking them, I basted the tops with some honey to give the dough some sweetness and sprinkled some raw cane sugar on top.

The resulting taste? I think I did pretty good. There are some similarities. Though, theirs is slightly flakier. I may try using a puff pastry sheet next time. But of course, it doesn't compare to the real thing, but I'm happy with my little experiment. So in case I can't make it to the bakery, I can always satisfy that craving with my homemade version. Plus, can you see the cream cheese sort of oozing out from the side? Those are the some of the good parts. These are an awesome treat for a party or a get together.

Besides, just because I tried making my own doesn't mean that it would stop me from buy the real cheese rolls. I love them too much to give them up. I think I may just go get some right now.

32 comments:

You have some of my favorite ingredients here, i KNOW this is to die for. I am going to visit you with an extra large handbag and take some when you aren't looking :D (thats what huge designer bags are for daaaaahling, didn't you know?)

That is TOO stinkin' weird! I just had Porto's for the first time last night! I was at a wine tasting at Silverlake Wine and the organizer brought platters of the guava pastries, cheese rolls, potato balls and media noche sandwiches for us to try. I only had a bite of the cheese roll, but it was really amazing. I can only imagine how good it would all be fresh from the case!